Ad Astra Per Aspera
by BlackCanary3341
Summary: Commander Cassandra Shepard was rescued from the Citadel during the Reaper War and now it is time for her to mourn a man who was a friend and father figure to her; Admiral David Anderson. One-shot. I used the MEHEM mod for my Shepard's ending.


Cassandra was on the Normandy Crew Deck, holding Admiral Anderson's nameplate to put it among the names of the fallen members of their crew on the wall. The rest of the Normandy crew was behind her. But she couldn't bring herself to do it; it would make it even more real, that the man that she had seen as a friend, mentor and more importantly, a father figure was gone. Her hands trembled and her fingers swept reverently across the nameplate with the shiny letters staring back at her. Her eyes dimmed with tears and her mind flashed back to when Joker and two crew members of the SSV Nuremberg came to rescue her.

Cassandra was in so much pain. She was struggling to keep her eyes open and was lying on the floor with Admiral Anderson dead, a few inches away from her. She had lost a significant amount of blood and was clutching her wound to try and stem the blood flow. The Crucible had been activated and was in the process of sending the Reapers back to hell. Joker had tried reaching her via comm but she had barely answered and she collapsed. She was now on the edge of death and would die if she didn't get an evac and medical attention.

Cassandra's thoughts now went to those she would leave behind; Joker, EDI, Garrus, Traynor, Liara, Javik, James, Cortez, her beloved Kaidan and all the other crew members. She had fought hard with them to ensure that the galaxy would never be threatened by a force like the Reapers and if she died, she was happy knowing that they would be safe. She smiled and she let the darkness slowly engulf her.

Suddenly, she heard voices coming towards her and a male voice shout, "There! I see the Commander!"

Cassandra then knew that she had to live and with her remaining strength, she lifted her bloodied hand up and the soldier grabbed it and lifted her gently and supported her. His companion said into his comm. "Normandy, we have Commander Shepard! We're on our way!"

Cassandra looked at Admiral Anderson's body and gasped out, "We can't leave him! We can't leave the body here!"

"Ma'am, it's too hot here! We have to leave! Now!" The soldier informed her.

"Please! We need to take it with us!"

The other soldier lifted Anderson's body and they got moving into the shuttle that was waiting for them and they sped off into the Normandy's Shuttle Bay. Cassandra lost consciousness as they arrived.

 _ **(Time skip)**_

The next time she woke up, she was in the Med Bay and the first thing she saw were Kaidan's honey brown eyes looking at her own steel grey ones. He laughed in relief and hugged her tightly and pressed his lips against hers. She was also relieved to hear that he had began recovering from his injuries. However, she was confined to the bed for a few more days. The rest of the crew would come in and see her over that recovery period.

The big question was now what they were to do with Anderson's body. Cassandra decided that they would bury it in London. He had been born there and he would rest there.

After Cassandra had recovered sufficiently, she organized with the rest of the Alliance to give him a fitting send off for a hero; nothing too fancy but something that would recognize his service to the Alliance.

After a few days, they travelled back to Earth and went by shuttle to the outskirts of the rubble that was London. They had wrapped his body in a shroud with Alliance insignia and laid him to rest in a grave that they had dug. The memorial service was a short but emotional one, attended by Kahlee Sanders, The Normandy Crew, Major Coats, some of the Alliance and the few surviving members of the resistance that had stayed behind to help where they could. Cassandra was in tears the whole time, overwhelmed by the loss of her mentor.

When it was time to speak, she went to the front and shakily began, "We all know who Admiral Anderson was; we know he was born her in London, he joined the Alliance at a young age, graduated from the N7 program, fought in the First Contact War and was a potential prospect for becoming the first Human Spectre. We all know his achievements but what we also know that he was a better man. He's the one who advised me to join the N7 program. He looked out for me after the incident in Akuze where I nearly died and where lost my entire squad. He never judged me when I joined Cerberus and still looked out for me whenever he could. Even before this war, whenever I had my doubts on whether the Reapers could be destroyed, he's the one who would get me back in the fight. Even when he wasn't on the Normandy, he would look out for me," she said with a quiver in her voice, remembering after the fall of Thessia when Joker had told her that Anderson had asked him to look after her. She continued, "He was my friend, he was my mentor... "

Cassandra choked up from the tears and couldn't continue with her speech. Kaidan came to the front and wrapped a comforting arm around her. She sobbed into his shoulder for the rest of the service.

After a few more people spoke, they covered the grave with earth and placed a stone to act as a headstone until they something better was prepared. The gathering dispersed with each person going their own way and the Normandy crew back to the ship.

Cassandra felt an arm around her shoulder that drew her out of her flashback and she looked up and saw Liara looking at her in concern. She then realized that she had dropped down to her knees and was silently sobbing. She rose up resolutely. She whispered, "You have earned your rest, my friend. Thank you for all that you've done for me. I'll see you again in the stars."

She sighed and placed Anderson's name amongst the names of the fallen crew and friends. She stepped back and went through the names of those she had known and fallen in battle: Ashley Williams, Navigator Pressley, Legion, Thane Krios and Mordin Solus. They had all died to help her with her cause and she had ensured that their sacrifices had not been in vain.

"You did good, child. I'm proud of you," she recalled Anderson saying.

She closed her eyes as she remembered him closing his eyes and realizing he wasn't getting up after calling him twice. She opened her eyes and looked at the words 'Ad Astra Per Astera'. Through hardships to the stars. The fallen had been through a lot and it was now time for them to rest. Life had to go on; wounds would eventually heal.

Cassandra turned around and walked over to Kaidan, who engulfed her in a warm hug. She smiled and she thought, 'Now it's time to rebuild.'

 **Author's note:**

 _Hiya guys! So this is my first Mass Effect fic! (Yeah, no shit!) Anyway, I was replaying the trilogy once more and I saw as a sort of therapy fic for me. I felt so bad when Admiral Anderson dies and I thought for my Shepard, this had to be especially painful because Anderson was her friend and father figure since she had no parents (my Shepard was Earthborn) and a mentor since she was his XO on the Normandy. I felt it fitting to give him a burial even though it wasn't a fancy one with Earth being destroyed and all. Sorry if it seemed rushed but I just had to write it down. I also couldn't bring myself to play the original endings for Mass Effect 3 because I had grown so attached to my Shepard and characters like EDI and the geth who would have died if I had so I downloaded the MEHEM mod and used that as Commander Shepard's ending. Reviews are welcome but no flames please! I apologize for any spelling errors or typos made as well as grammatical errors. Bye bye! Canary out! :)_


End file.
